Fakeaway: Chinese Roasted Chicken, Vegetable Fried Rice and Spring Rolls

My mouth waters thinking about Chinese food; all the different smells, tastes and textures.

I love going along to an open kitchen in a take out place just for this reason and to watch the chefs using their huge woks, cooking food in front of me. They way they cook always seems so elaborate. Surely I can do this too?

If this is your first time joining the Fakeaway, have a look at the rules here.

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Fakeaway 26 October 2013

“Chinese Roast Chicken, Vegetable Fried Rice and Vegetable Spring Rolls”

Total cost £4.66 for a family of 4

Ingredients

All ingredients used were either supermarket own brands or the lowest price.

We calculated the cost of each of the ingredients separately by looking at the item’s total value, then working out what the amount we would need. For example, mixed herbs are £1.39 for 100g, for a 5g teaspoon full it would be 7p (£1.39/100 x 5 = 0.0695).

Chinese Roasted Chicken

1. Put all the ingredients in a large bowl, apart from the chicken, and mix together.

2. Add the chicken, one piece a time, ensuring that each piece gets covered in the marinade.

3. Cover and put in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

While the chicken is marinating, make a cup of tea/play with the children/catch up with your favourite book/clean the house * delete as appropriate

4. Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes at 190 C / Gas mark 5, basting and turning halfway through cooking.

Vegetable Fried Rice

1. Boil the rice as per the normal packet instructions. Once cooked, drain and put to one side.

While the rice is cooking, start to chop the veg and cook the filling for the spring rolls.

2. Put the oil in a large pan or wok, add ginger and cook for 30 seconds to flavour the oil.

3. Add the onion and stir until the onion softens.

4. Push the ginger and onion to one side of the pan and add the peas to the middle. Cook, stirring frequently, then push to the side with the ginger and onion.

5. 

   Add the peppers, cooking for 2 minutes, push to the same side as the other ingredients then add the bean sprouts.

6. After 1 minute pushes the bean sprouts to the side and add the cooked rice.

7. Stir and once warmed through, mix in all the other ingredients that were pushed to the side.

8. Add the soy sauce and some pepper for seasoning.

9. 

   Turn down and heat gently until you are ready to serve.

Vegetable Spring Rolls

1. Add the garlic and ginger into oil in a pan or wok and fry for one minute.

2. Add the carrots, peppers and bean sprouts, allowing a little time between each and stir fry.

3. Throw in the five-spice powder and soy sauce, stir and cook for a further 2 minutes.

4. 

   Put to one side and allow to cool.

Once the rice is cooked, wrap and cook the rolls

5. After dipping the wraps in water, place on a damp tea towel and add a tablespoon size of the vegetables to the centre of the wrap (do not overfill).

6. 

   Fold the bottom of the wrap cover the vegetables, bring each of the sides in, then roll it over to complete.

7. Heat oil in a pan until extremely hot.

8. 

   Add the rolls to the pan, seal side down, for two minutes, then turn over. Do not add to many to the pan at once or they may stick together.

9. Once cooked, place on kitchen roll to drain any excess oil.

Grab your chop sticks and tuck in!

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We seemed to make quite a lot of washing up this week. Usually Skint Mum washes up a bit as we go but my sister popped round half way through cooking which did throw our timings a bit (not that it wasn’t lovely to see her).

The Spring Rolls were very fiddly to make but after a few, we got the hang of it. You also need to make sure that the oil is very, very hot.

Skint Dad Tip – to see if the oil is hot enough, grab a chopstick and put the tip in the oil in the centre of the pan. When bubbles form around the chopstick, you know that the oil is hot enough.

The chicken fell off the bone and had an oriental tang that you would expect from a take out but I think the rice made the meal. The rice could have been a meal in itself! Totally full of flavour and the crunch of the veg.

This is our third fakeaway. We’ve done Indian, Pizza and now Chinese. If we would have ordered out for these three meals, it would cost over £70 by now but we have done this for less than £13, proving that you can eat well on a budget and learn something along the way.

I can’t wait until next Saturday…